And the winner is... drum roll please

None of you!

Haha, only joking.

Before I tell you, I should tell you what inspired this colour mix. It was a range of fabrics from a French company called Mas d'Ousvan - I don't have any left but here is a link to one of my favourite prints: Angele Bleu

I didn't want to tell you the inspiration because I like people to make up their own minds without interference from me. And I loved all the ideas of beaches and vintage and linen, but at the end of the day what still kept coming back to me was the idea of provincial france. And while I'm not going to go with quite that, I think it's only fair that the winner is:

I am inspired (email me with your address and I'll get your winnings on their way to you!)

So ladies & gentlemen (although I get the feeling it's MAINLY ladies!)

Here is is:

"En Provence"

But fear not the rest of you - I may have another naming competition coming up soon, and with that one I promise I don't have any secrets. Keep your eyes peeled.

Oh, and by the way. If EVER anyone feels like coming up with a new colour for us - we are always looking for new ideas. And if we use your ideas we will of course always give you buttons in return!

Help! I need a name... but I'll give you something in return, I promise!

So, usually I am pretty good with coming up with names for our theme bags, (in fact, often the name comes before the colour!) but sometimes the names take longer to come up with than others. It's then that I usually turn to the rest of the ButtonCompany team, and usually they come up with something that helps. But this time we are all stumped.

Soooo, I turn to you, button fans. I know I have severely neglected you, but hopefully I can make this up to you.

Come up with a name, and send it to me either as a comment here, or send me an email.

The winning name gets a 100g theme bag of this new colour. But I need it soon, as our trade show is coming up, and I need all the paperwork done for that. Ok?

Purlesque Launch

Hi, we are Purlesque, a little craft/ knitting boutique based in Liverpool city centre, and we absolutely fell in love with the new Kokka fabrics from the Button Company!  We just had to get some!

We also thought they were worth throwing a party for, so on the 12th of June we hosted a launch night for the new fabrics, more of the Button Company's scrummy buttons and some of the stuff we made from these gorgeous items. 

 We transformed the shop into a summer haven planted some flower buttons into some plant pots and crocheted some cacti.

  Sarah baked some yummy cakes and a good time was had by all! The fabrics have been a huge success and customers always comment at how unique they are and unlike anything they have seen before. Can't wait to order more!

To keep up with more from the Purlesque team, check out their blog !

New Echino 2009!

New echino collection ordering NOW!

JG-99100 100 100% cotton double gauze
Col. A

Col. BCol. C

JG-99100 102 100% cotton double gauze
Col. A

Col. B

Col. C Col. D JG-99100 101 100% cotton double gauze

Col. A Col. B

Col. CCol. DJG-99200 200 100% cotton sheeting
Col. A
Col. B

Col. C Col. D JG-99200 201 100% cotton sheeting

Col. ACol. BCol. CCol. D

I've got another secret. And it's one you're gonna want to find out...

Someone told me the other day that I could never be a spy, because I sound like a herd of elephants chasing a herd of buffalo, running for their lives on an african plain, the sound reverberating in the silent morning like thunder at midnight, like, well, the noise I make when I run, apparently.

There is another reason I could never be a spy, and it is not really my fault.  It is totally physiological.  Something happens to me when I have a secret to keep, especially if it is a good one.  My dad is the same.  When he has done something naughty or mischievous, you can tell it.  It's all in the eye.  And I am the same.  The secret bubbles around my body, peeping out wherever it can, desperately trying to tell someone it's there.  

And once someone knows there is a secret being kept, well, it's only a short while before the secret is being shared, isn't it?

So, for all you shops out there who are coming to see us at the Stitches trade show in later this month, CHECK THIS OUT:  We ain't just buttons any more.

*gasp*

What?  Now, don't worry, we still have the buttons - and many a luscious one too.  It's still who we are and what we do.  That could never, and will never change.    

But we kept seeing all this lovely stuff that's hard to find on our little island, but I know many of you crafty types would like to buy it so:  

for the jewellery maker:

for the sewer:

to the patchworker & felt lover:

for the general crafter:

*eek!*

so to anyone who hasn't planned yet to come to Stitches (and who is eligible) I suggest you get on the phone and get us to send you a leaflet which lets you get in, nice and easy, like.

I would love to entertain you on our stand, which is J42 methinks, or nearabouts.  I am liable to be so excited I may do a little dance.  But don't hold me to it.

Oh dear, I guess that's one step further away from MI5 then.

See you then x

sneak peeks...

Here at Button Company we have been beavering away trying to get some new fabby colour mixes out to you... you're going to have to wait a while, and we are still thinking of names for these mixes, and I shouldn't really show you these (one of them was only born yesterday).  So if you don't tell anyone, I won't.

The one above is probably one of our most vibrant mixes to date... rachael and I were discussing yesterday that it makes us think of 80's pop videos - something by wham! perhaps.

And then there is this one below.  

and you may have seen this new one, pop up in the shop a short while ago.  I like the fact that the pink is more fuchsia, more popping.  It's amazing how different pinks can be - when you put this next to the hot pinks, the colours are amazingly different.

there are others, but the colours haven't been photographed yet.

Flower Power Button Ring - courtesy of Spoilt Rotten Beads

This great project was sent to us by Spoilt Rotten Beads

Wire wrapped rings are really inexpensive, simple and easy to make, they make lovely gifts and the possibilities are endless, once you've perfected this project try experimenting with Swarovski Crystals and semi-precious stones...

Ingredients

0.6mm Silver Plated Wire

Flower buttons

Additional Tools Required: Wooden Ring Mandrel, Pencil, Side Cutters, Chain Nose Pliers,Crimping Pliers

Method

1. To begin with you will need to draw a pencil line around your wooden ring mandrel to mark the size that you’d like your ring to be. The easiest way to do this is to take a ring that fits you and put this on the ring mandrel, draw a line around the mandrel underneath the ring.
2. Cut off approx 80cm of 0.6mm silver plated wire and place it around the ring mandrel just below the line you have drawn. It’s important to place the wire just below the line as you need to make the ring slightly large as when you wrap it will become smaller.
3. Wrap it around the ring mandrel 4-5 times being careful not to cross the wires over or it will not sit flat on your finger.
4. Bring both ends of the wire together and put a twist in the wire up against the ring to stop the wires from moving

5. Thread your button onto both strands of wire – thread one end through one hole and the other through the other hole, if your button has four holes use the two diagonal holes.

6. Push the button right down hard up against the ring and bend both ends of the wire over, push down on the button with your thumb and twist the wire into a spiral using your fingers

7. Slip the ring off the mandrel
8. Take one end of the wire over to one side of the ring and down onto the ring band, wrap this end of wire tightly around the ring band about three times, snip off any excess wire and crimp it against the side of the ring band using your crimping pliers, (don’t worry if your ring band gets a little distorted at this stage as you’ll be able to smarten it up again later)
9. Take the other end of the wire across to the other side of the ring and down onto the ring band – repeat step 8
10. Place the ring back onto the ring mandrel to reshape it – if it is a little small at this stage you can take a rubber or leather backed hammer and hammer it down on the ring mandrel to increase the size of the ring.

For more beading projects from Spoilt Rotten beads take a look here